e-Travel unveils latest Web Services technology for delivery of online travel content

Increased bookings for online players as travellers receive decision-support information throughout the travel booking process.

Madrid, Spain, 05 August 2002: e-Travel, a leading global provider of online travel technology and business unit of Amadeus, today launches a new delivery method for travel content using Web Services, an advanced collection of standards-based technologies. Online corporate and leisure
players can now use e-Travel’s Web Services to easily integrate weather and aircraft information, airport guides and a currency converter into their online booking sites. This cost-effective solution transforms transaction-only sites into complete travel resources featuring
strategically placed decision-making information, thereby generating more bookings.

Industry research has emphasized the role that carefully targeted destination content plays in bridging usage life-cycle stages. According to Jupiter Research Jupiter/The NPD Group Inc. Travel Survey (2/02), Destination content bridges usage life-cycle stages., travel booking sites should target destination information based on the stage an online traveller has reached. For example, during the pre-purchase or shopping phase, judiciously selected and well-timed destination content allows travel companies to cross-sell and up-sell customers, 60 percent of whom have not set a budget prior to starting their online travel research.

Web Services support application-to-application communication over the Internet, allowing external networks to integrate and function with each other. In order to deliver online players a faster return on investment, e-Travel has implemented Web Services and developed a central repository of content that travel sites can access using a SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) interface to retrieve information in XML (Extensible Markup Language) format. This results in lower setup, maintenance and administration costs.

In addition, having direct access to raw travel data means that travel sites are empowered to dynamically target useful and relevant information at appropriate points in the booking process. For example, if a traveller is attracted to a Web site’s featured destination, such as a London special promotion, he/she can be presented with destination details such as local attractions, events, weather and currency information. Increasing the appeal of the destination in this way also increases opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling.

“Forging closer relationships with travellers is key to driving the volume of bookings and a faster return on investment,” declared Jrme Destors, Director Suppliers and Agencies at e-Travel. “With this in mind we have implemented e-Travel Web Services technology to deliver strategically placed content. This is just the first step towards providing online players with a full set of Web Services solutions that will soon include fares and flight availability”.

In the coming months, existing services such as Destination Guides, Events Calendars, World Dialling Codes and multiple language versions will also be made available through e Travel’s content server to corporate and leisure customers via e-Travel? Aergo and e-Travel? Planitgo.

About e-Travel
e-Travel is a leading global provider of online travel technology and business unit of Amadeus: It provides e-commerce solutions for airlines, corporations, travel agencies and other online travel businesses, and is dedicated to its customers’ net success. e-Travel serves customers in more than 90 countries, including corporations such as Airbus, Daimler Chrysler, Gateway, Inc., Ingersoll Rand Company, Oracle Corporation and Philip Morris Companies, as well as travel suppliers such as Air France, Iberia and Qantas, and online agencies such as Opodo.

Parent company Amadeus Global Travel Distribution SA is a leading global distribution system (GDS) and technology provider serving the marketing, sales and distribution needs of the world’s travel and tourism industries.

For more information about e-Travel please visit www.e-travel.com.

For further information on e-Travel’s extensive range of travel-related information including demos, and technical specifications please visit
http://content.e-travel.com. (Note: Users will need a user name and
password, which can be requested at [email protected])

For further information please contact:

e-Travel
Corporate and Marketing Communication
Amadeus Global Travel Distribution
Tel : +34 91 582 0160
Fax : +34 91 582 0188
E-mail : [email protected]

e-Travel is a registered trademark of Amadeus Global Travel Distribution SA.